Poems for a Funeral
 

I am helping organize a funeral for my friend's father.
Can you suggest some poems for the program? Need ideas.

Hmm, I'd think that depends on the person themselves. I wouldn't read a poem about hard work if the guy was more of a partier, or about enjoying life if he worked in a coal mine...

I've done graphics for a few memorial posters and program layouts. There was one that immediately came to mind that follows. I've got links for a few others though I'll see if I can dig up. A lot of it depends on the person who died and their personality. Some will need a more religious tone then others.

Google memorial poetry and memorial poems and you'll find lot's of options.


I Did Not Die

Do not stand at my grave and forever weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and forever cry.
I am not there. I did not die.

Hamlet - Good night, sweet prince. And flights of angels sing too to thy rest.



When I Am Dead, My Dearest

When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.
I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.

~Christina Rossetti


All Return Again

It is the secret of the world that all things subsist and do not
die, but only retire a little from sight and afterwards return again.
Nothing is dead; men feign themselves dead, and endure mock funerals
and mournful obituaries, and there they stand looking out of the
window, sound and well, in some new strange disguise. Jesus is not
dead; he is very well alive; nor John, nor Paul, nor Mahomet, nor
Aristotle; at times we believe we have seen them all, and could
easily tell the names under which they go.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Jack was her estranged father that was absent for most of her life. He resurfaced in her life about 5 years ago. They mended their relationship and things between them ended on a good note. He came out late in life, divorced his wife when he realized that he was gay. He lived with his partner for about 25 years after the divorce. He liked to drink and smoke. All in all, he was a lackluster father but he redeemed himself in my friend's eyes by opening up to her. He had a pretty good sense of humor.

The poem read at the funeral in "Four Weddings . . ." by "that other splendid bugger," W.H. Auden, was rather nice, although perhaps better suited to the partner's perspective than the daughter's.

Given the bio, if you're going Hamlet, you might throw in "He was a man, take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again." Or you might just play "Born to Run."

Official request: Do not read sappy poetry at my funeral, please. :) Awesome cutting edge poetry, yes. "I am one with the universe now, carry on with your lives", no.

The LoT counts as my Will and Testament, right?

Actually, I take it back, read whatever you want at my funeral...for I shall not hear thine words of sadness and loss, I shall be forever given unto that which lies beneath the crust of the earth, oh sweet, faint drama of this material time, yadda yadda.

</derail>

Through the lips and over the tongue
Look out stomach, here it comes.

or

There once was a man from Nantucket...


I hope somebody reads that second one at my funeral. It would be great to f**k with people from the afterlife :evil:

Here's one I really like:

Love is a fire
It burns everyone
It disfigures everyone
It is the world's excuse
for being ugly

- Leonard Cohen, 1972

And the "winning" poem is...
 

Miss Me - But Let Me Go

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me,
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room,
Why cry for a soul set free!
Miss me a little - but not for long
And not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love that we once shared,
Miss me, but let me go.
For this journey that we all must take
And each must go alone;
It's all a part of the Master's plan
A step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go to the friends we know,
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds.
Miss me, but let me go.

- Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)